Recurring Expenses

Automate regular expenses like monthly board payments, weekly training fees, and daily feed costs. Set up once, and let EquineOps generate expenses automatically.

Recurring expenses save you time by automatically creating expense records for costs that happen regularly. Instead of manually entering the same expense every month, week, or day, create a template once and let the system do the work.

What Are Recurring Expenses?

Recurring expenses are costs that happen on a regular schedule:

Common examples:

• Monthly board payments to facilities
• Weekly training fees
• Daily feed costs per horse
• Monthly facility insurance premiums
• Weekly bedding deliveries
• Bi-weekly farrier visits for large barns
• Quarterly pest control services

Instead of manually recording these expenses each time, you create a template that automatically generates the expense record on schedule.

How Recurring Expenses Work

The process is simple:

All expenses generated from recurring templates appear in your regular expense list and reports.

Creating a Recurring Expense

Setting Up Monthly Board Payment

Here’s a complete example of a common recurring expense:

"Monthly board payment per agreement. Includes full care, feed, stall, and daily turnout. Contact: Jane Smith (555) 123-4567"

Daily Feed Cost Tracking

Track daily feed costs efficiently:

Weekly Expenses

For expenses that recur weekly:

Common examples:

• Weekly training fees: $75 every Thursday
• Weekly bedding delivery: $150 every Monday
• Bi-weekly barn cleaning: $200 every other Friday

Setting up:

Managing Recurring Expense Templates

View and manage all recurring templates:

Viewing Templates

1. Go to Expenses → Recurring tab
2. See all active recurring templates
3. View schedule and next generation date
4. See total expenses generated from each template

Editing Templates

Pausing Recurring Expenses

Need to temporarily stop a recurring expense?

Option 1: Set End Date

1. Edit the template
2. Set “End Date” to today
3. Save
4. Re-activate later by removing end date

Option 2: Delete and Recreate

1. Delete the template
2. Create new template when ready to resume

Generated expenses remain even if template is deleted or paused.

Deleting Templates

Generated Expense Management

Expenses created from recurring templates work just like manual expenses:

Finding Generated Expenses

Generated expenses appear in:

• Main expense list (with all expenses)
• Horse expense history
• Expense reports
• QuickBooks sync (if enabled)

Identifying recurring expenses:

• Look for “Recurring” badge or icon
• Notes often include “Auto-generated”
• Consistent amounts and dates

Editing Generated Expenses

Change any generated expense:

1. Find expense in expense list
2. Click to open
3. Click “Edit”
4. Change any field (amount, date, notes, etc.)
5. Attach receipt
6. Click “Save”

Deleting Individual Occurrences

Remove a specific generated expense:

1. Open the expense
2. Click “Delete”
3. Confirm deletion

The template continues generating future expenses. Only this one occurrence is deleted.

Bulk Editing

Need to update many generated expenses at once?

Use case: Board increased from $600 to$650 starting March 1

Solution:

1. Edit the recurring template (affects future expenses)
2. Use expense list filters to find past expenses
3. Edit each individually, or
4. Contact support for bulk update assistance

Recurring vs. One-Time Expenses

When to use recurring templates vs. manual entry:

Use Recurring Templates For:

Predictable, regular expenses:

• Monthly board payments
• Weekly training fees
• Daily feed costs (if tracking daily)
• Monthly insurance premiums
• Quarterly services
• Regular subscription fees

Characteristics:

• Same amount each time
• Regular schedule
• Ongoing or long-term
• Many occurrences

Use Manual Entry For:

Variable or irregular expenses:

• Veterinary emergencies
• Farrier visits (unless very regular)
• Equipment purchases
• Show entry fees
• Supplies shopping trips
• One-time services

Characteristics:

• Different amount each time
• Irregular schedule
• One-time occurrence
• Unknown future dates

Advanced Scenarios

Multiple Horses, Same Expense

Scenario: You board 5 horses at same facility for $600/month each.

Solution: Create 5 separate recurring templates:

1. Create first template for Horse #1
2. Duplicate and change horse for Horse #2
3. Repeat for all 5 horses

Result: Each horse’s profile shows their specific $600/month board expense.

Expense with Variable Amounts

Scenario: Monthly electric bill (varies by season).

Options:

Option 1: Use average amount

• Calculate annual average
• Create monthly recurring at average
• Edit specific months that differ

Option 2: Manual entry

• Don’t use recurring template
• Enter actual amount each month
• More accurate, but more work

Recommendation: Start with recurring average, adjust as needed.

Seasonal Expenses

Scenario: Fly spray purchases May-September only.

Solution:

1. Create recurring template
2. Set Start Date: May 1
3. Set End Date: September 30
4. Frequency: Monthly
5. Next year, create new template for new season

Trial Period Expenses

Scenario: 3-month training program at $800/month.

Solution:

1. Frequency: Monthly
2. Start Date: Today
3. End Date: 3 months from today
4. Notes: “Training with XYZ Trainer - 3 month trial”

After 3 months, template stops automatically. Create new template if continuing.

QuickBooks Integration

Recurring expenses work seamlessly with QuickBooks:

When QuickBooks sync is enabled:

• Generated expenses sync to QuickBooks automatically
• Each occurrence becomes a Purchase in QB
• Category and vendor matched to QB accounts
• Syncs within 1 hour of generation

Benefits:

• No duplicate entry in QuickBooks
• Consistent categorization
• Complete expense history
• Automatic reconciliation

See also: QuickBooks Expense Sync

Best Practices

Start with Most Common Expenses

Begin by automating:

1. Monthly board payments
2. Weekly training fees
3. Monthly insurance
4. Regular deliveries

Add more templates as you identify patterns.

Review Generated Expenses Monthly

Set reminder to review:

• Verify amounts are still correct
• Add missing receipts
• Delete cancelled occurrences
• Adjust templates for price changes

Use Clear, Descriptive Notes

Good template notes:

• “Monthly board at Oak Hill - includes full care per 12-month agreement”
• “Weekly training with Trainer Smith - Thursdays at 3pm”
• “Daily feed cost - reviewed quarterly based on actual usage”

Update Templates When Prices Change

When costs increase:

1. Edit recurring template with new amount
2. Effective date = when increase takes effect
3. Manually edit already-generated expenses before that date if needed

Don’t Over-Automate

Avoid creating templates for:

• Truly variable expenses
• Infrequent occurrences
• Short-term expenses (1-2 months)
• Amounts that often change

Manual entry is better for these.

Troubleshooting

Template Not Generating Expenses

Check:

• Start Date: Has it passed?
• End Date: Did template expire?
• Template Status: Is it active?
• System Issues: Contact support if problem persists

Wrong Amount Generated

Solution:

1. Edit the generated expense to correct amount
2. Update template for future occurrences
3. If many expenses wrong, contact support

Missed Occurrence

If an expense didn’t generate:

1. Check template is active
2. Verify schedule settings
3. Manually create missing expense
4. Contact support to investigate

Too Many Expenses Generated

If duplicate expenses created:

1. Delete duplicates
2. Check for duplicate templates
3. Verify template schedule
4. Contact support if recurring issue

Need to Stop Template

Immediately stop recurring generation:

1. Edit template
2. Set End Date to yesterday
3. Save
4. Template stops generating

Or delete template entirely.

Reporting and Analysis

Recurring expenses appear in all standard reports:

Expense Reports:

• Included in total expenses
• Filterable by category, vendor, horse
• Exportable to CSV/PDF

Budget Tracking:

• Predictable recurring expenses help budget planning
• Easy to forecast costs
• Identify cost trends

Horse Cost Analysis:

• Per-horse recurring costs visible
• Track true cost of horse ownership
• Support pricing decisions

Profit/Loss:

• Recurring expenses included in P&L
• Regular expenses properly categorized
• Accurate financial statements

Next Steps

Now that you understand recurring expenses:

• Recording Expenses - Learn basic expense entry
• QuickBooks Expense Sync - Integrate with QuickBooks
• Expense Reports - Generate expense reports
• Expense Management Overview - Complete expense features

Need Help?

Questions about recurring expenses? We’re here to help:

• Email: support@equineops.com
• Phone Support: Available during business hours for setup assistance